How To Make a Live Air Plant Terrarium

It’s simple to create a mini terrarium for your air plants. Live air plants do not need soil – weird and cool, I know! So, instead of dirt, you can use things like seashells, sand, rocks. I have been hanging on to a mason jar of tiny seashells my kids collected a year ago. I knew if I waited long enough, the right seashell craft would come along. And it finally did.

Not long ago, I saw an air plant terrarium on the Pottery Barn website. It looked so cute sitting there on the table, I wanted one for my house. I knew it would be simple to make a mini terrarium that looks a lot like the one at PB (for a fraction of the cost.)

I got a small glass bubble bowl from the dollar store, and used some of our seashells to make a live air plant terrarium. I used air plants I have had at home for more than a year now without killing any of them (yay!)

Air plants are really easy to keep alive, even easier than succulents. Every two weeks, I water my air plants by soaking them in a bowl for an hour. If you don’t want to soak your plants, you can mist them with water every few days instead.

WHERE TO BUY AIR PLANTS

I have found it easiest to buy Air plants online at Amazon and Etsy. Most Amazon sellers offer a variety of air plants species at reasonable prices. Your air plant terrarium will look more interesting with air plants in different sizes, colors and shapes.

How To Make a Live Air Plants Terrarium

What You’ll Need

• Clear Glass Bubble Bowl (mine is about 4 inches tall and wide)
• Decorative elements (seashells, sand, pebbles, glass gems, marbles, etc.)
• 1 or more air plants

Directions:

1. Fill the bottom of the glass bowl with about a half-inch tall layer of seashells (or other decorative elements of your choice). You can use more or less decorative elements to get the look you want. Just be sure to leave room for the air plants on the inside.
2. Add one or more air plants inside, and your terrarium is done.

DIY terrariums are fun to make and give as gifts. I even made some to give as teacher gifts. The filler is white rocks I bought in a bag at the dollar store. I used a white paint marker to write messages on decorative black stones. (The black stones are also from the dollar store.) The dollar store sells colorful glass gems I think would be really pretty to use, too.

If you love easy-to-care for plants and diy terrariums, check out my blog post about how to make a succulents terrarium.